


Nestmother

by samvelg



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adopted Harry Potter, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dragons, Ecstatic Charlie Weasley, F/M, Fem!Harry, Female Harry Potter, Harry is adopted by a dragon, Nestmother is Bestmother, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Strong female rolemodels, a bit cracky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-04-24 15:20:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14358219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samvelg/pseuds/samvelg
Summary: During the First Task, Harry realises she can understand the Horntail and instead of outflying her, tries to talk to her. And is promptly adopted.No one is sure what's funnier, what the presence of a strong maternal figure (however unorthodox) is having on Harry, or Charlie Weasley's happy sobbing at the new focus of his magic PhD.





	1. Thorns-in-the-deep-forest

**Author's Note:**

> So the idea for this literally came to me in the shower. 
> 
> I have no idea how long it will be or what the endgame is, but I just needed to see Harry adopted by a protective mother dragon and get a whole new perspective on life. With Charlie Weasley in the background crying happy tears into his firewhiskey because now he has a way to communicate directly with his beloved dragons and understand them so much better.
> 
> So expect hijinks, dragon culture, encouraging!mama dragon, an increasingly confident!Harry Potter, long suffering interns, and a thoroughly confused Severus Snape. Really not sure when the Harry/Snape will start, but if it's underage I'll change the tags then.

Entering the Arena, Harry was faced with her first proper look at the Hungarian Horntail not obscured by trees and a bakers dozen of dragontamers. She was even more imposing than she had expected, and she'd expected quite a lot.

Her scales were deep, glossy black, and the horns and spikes that covered her were a gleaming bronze. Even curled up around her nest as she was she was clearly huge, maybe somewhere around 50 long including her long tail which, as the name suggested was covered in more of the wicked bronze spikes. Her wings were flared out and she hunched over her eggs, roaring and hissing at the noisy crowd as her head whipped back and forth, looking for a threat.

As Harry inched closer, hiding behind rocks to get a better view of the nest to try and spot the one that was gold, she noticed something very strange. It was disjointed at first, like a conversation that was taking place half in another language, but as she froze and concentrated harder she realised she could actually understand what she was saying.

_~"Filthy humans! Taking me from my colony, I will BURN you if you come near my clutch! HOW DARE YOU!"~_

It occurred to Harry that she wasn't the only one being entirely screwed over by this Tournament, and it gave her an idea. If she could understand the dragon, that meant she could probably talk to her. It sounded different, harsher and more guttural than when she talked to snakes, and she was reminded a lot of the basilisk from her second year.

Quietly pointing her wand at her throat and casting _Sonerous_ on herself, she thanked Merlin she'd seen Ludo Bagman use it during the Quidditch World Cup and had practiced it with Ron for a laugh in the common room one evening.

Peeking over the boulder she was hiding behind to get a good look at the dragon, she focused as hard as she could on her, then called out a tentative, _~"Hello?"~_

The dragon's head whipped around, furious yellow eyes trained on her as the crowd quietened down, clearly confused about what was happening.

 _~"Who is speaking?"~_ The dragon demanded. _~"Cease your cowardly hiding!"~_

Slowly standing and coming around the boulder, she held her hands up so they were clearly visible and tried again. _~"It was me. Please forgive my hiding great one, you are much larger than I and I didn't want to approach thoughtlessly."~_

The dragon's head tilted to one side. _~"A tiny human Speaker? I have not met one before, though I have heard tales from the Elders."~_ Her eyes narrowed and she growled. _~"Have you come to war against me too?"~_

 _~"Of course not great one!"~_  She assured her. _~"I would never dream to think myself capable of something like that."~_

The dragon hummed and nodded. _~"Then you are wiser than the other humans. Where is your mother hatchling? You are far too small to be away from her."~_

Harry blinked, confused. _~"She died protecting me from an evil wizard not long after I was born."~_

 _~"What an exceptional way to die."~_ The dragon said, seeming to nod in approval. _~"I am sorry for the loss of your honoured bloodmother hatchling. But where is your nestmother?"~_

This conversation just kept getting stranger. _~"What's a nestmother?"~_

She reared up proudly, neck curving and wings arched in what seemed to be a display of some kind. _~"I am a nestmother. As I am the largest and fiercest in my colony, I guard the eggs of my sisters as well as my own."~_ She patted an egg near the centre of the clutch. _~"Here is the very first egg of my youngest bloodsister. She loves it and is overjoyed to have young of her own, but knows she is far too small to be able to protect it herself, so instead she entrusts it to me. I will guard the eggs, keep them warm, and care for the hatchlings until they're big enough to return to their bloodkin. If their bloodkin are killed or taken away, I will raise them along with my own. Who has been raising you hatchling?"~_

_~"Well, I guess that would be Petunia. Um, my mother's bloodsister. She doesn't like me though, and she really hates magic. I think she'd prefer it if I was dead or at least far away from her own son though."~_

The dragon reared back to her full, utterly terrifying height and screamed, _~"WHAT?!"~_

Harry flinched, taking a step back towards the safety of her boulder. _~"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"~_

 _~"OUTRAGEOUS!"~_ The dragon roared. _~"The pride of a colony is it's young, and the honour of being a nestmother is the highest one that can be bestowed. Your nestmother is a disgrace!"~_

Harry couldn't find it in herself to disagree, Petunia really was awful. She felt oddly touched by the dragon's fury, and idly wondered at the fact that this dragon appeared to care more for her home life than nearly everyone she'd met so far in both the magical and muggle worlds.

Lost in her musing, she didn't notice the dragon moving until the crowd was screaming, and before she realised what was happening, she was being scooped forward by a large wing so that she was in reach for the dragon to grab with one heavily scaled forepaw and pull her close. For a second she thought she was about to be eaten, until she was gently sat down next to the eggs. The dragon curled the non-spiky section of her tail tightly around her and started to hum reassuringly, nuzzling her.

Well, this was entirely unexpected.

 _~"You cannot go back to your dishonourable nestmother tiny Speaker."~_ She declared. _~"I will care for you instead."~_

 _~"Well. That's ah, that's very kind of you, thank you."~_  She tried to think of something to say to that. _~"Do you have a name? My name is Harry."~_ Though it didn't come out quite the same, she hadn't tried to say her name in Parseltongue before and apparently her name translated to Protector-of-the-home. Petunia had translated directly, but that was probably because it just using the word for the flower petunia.

The dragon rumbled in approval. _~"What a good, strong name. I am Thorns-in-the-deep-forest, of the Moon Caves colony. You may call me Nestmother, my hatchling."~_

_~"Oh. Thank you Nestmother."~_

Shaking off how strangely touched she was by the aggressively maternal dragon, she shook her head and refocused on why she way here in the first place. _~"Nestmother, the reason I am here is because there is a competition going on, a trial of strength and cunning among the humans. There is a false egg in your clutch, and I was sent to retrieve it for the other humans so that it doesn't bother your eggs."~_

 _~"What!"~_ Thorns-in-the-deep-forest reared back, looking angry again. _~"A false egg? Remove it this instant!"~_

The golden egg was near the outside of her clutch and to the side, so it wasn't too surprising that the dragon hadn't noticed it during the short period of time before she'd entered the arena. Picking it up from amidst the concrete coloured eggs surrounding it, she couldn't help but giggle to herself. This was definitely not how she thought she'd be retrieving the golden egg from the dragon, that's for sure.

_~"I'm going to go now Nestmother, it was lovely to meet you."~_

Her tail tightened slightly around her. _~"Before you leave you must first take my Kin-mark hatchling."~_

_~"What's a Kin-mark?"~_

_~"It will show others of the Kin that you are under the protection of the Moon Caves colony, so they will not attack you."~_

Harry figured that Kin must be their word for dragon. Well that sounded handy, in case she was for some reason ever in the insane position to be facing a dragon again. _~"Will it hurt?"~_

 _~"What worthy thing doesn't?"~_ She responded, somehow sounding amused. _~"But it will not last, and then you will be protected."~_

It seemed reasonable, and she appreciated her honesty. _~"Then yes Nestmother, I will gladly accept your Kin-mark."~_

She sat back, using one paw to gently hold her in place while the other used the sharp point of one claw to cut open the neck of her robes. The crowd was screaming again, but all she could do was stare at her huge yellow eyes and marvel at how delicately she handled her.

She leaned back in, resting the tip of her long snout against the notch at the base of her throat. Without even realising it her hands had reached up to rest on the smooth scales on the side of her jaw. Their eyes met, only inches away from each other, and she could feel the burning determination and protectiveness in them, and it filled her with warmth.

 _~"Be still my hatchling."~_ She ordered as she inhaled deeply, then as her eyes seemed to glow a small stream of oddly coloured fire was exhaled from her nostrils. It was very hot, and Harry could feel it burning the skin around her throat, but at the same time it didn't seem to be something that worried her, which she figured was thanks to some kind of dragon magic. It only lasted a few seconds before it ended, and she leaned back to take a good look at her handiwork.

Harry touched the skin on her neck, and was surprised to find a ring of tender but unburnt skin that seemed to circle all the way around her throat.

_~"It is complete. You may take the false egg and depart my hatchling."~_

Standing up with the golden egg under one arm, Harry leaned forward and hugged the dragon. _~"Thank you Nestmother, I appreciate your kindness."~_

Thorns-in-the-deep-forest nuzzled contentedly back into her, before giving her a gentle nudge out of the nest. _~"It is only the kindness that all hatchlings should receive. Now, go and be victorious, my Harry."~_

Resisting the entirely bizarre urge to cry, she gave her a big smile then jumped down off the ledge the nest was on and waved the egg over her head. The crowd, judges included, seemed to be utterly confused but were still cheering wildly as she cancelled the _Sonorous_ and made her way to the exit.

Now that she wasn't using all his concentration to understand the dragon's odd version of Parseltongue, she realised that Ludo Bagman's commentary had apparently been going on the entire time.

"- can't believe that she has managed to escape the dragon with the golden egg! Who would have thought she'd find a way to talk to the dragon! That bit at the end with the fire was a close call, but it doesn't look like she seems to be badly injured, so maybe she won't lose points for that!"

Points. She snorted.

Someone entered her into this competition against her will, probably to kill her, and they thought she cared about points? So far today, the one who'd cared most about her wellbeing was the bloody dragon she was supposed to fight, and wasn't that a depressing thought. Still, it had been an amazing experience to meet Thorns-in-the-deep-forest, and she was surprised at how fond of her she had become over the course of their encounter. She hoped she'd be taken back to her colony soon and left in peace now that the First Task was over.

As she left the arena and was descended on by a frantic Madam Pomfrey who began checking her over with sweeping waves of her wand, she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

 


	2. Survive the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes to bed thinking the First Task is over and behind her, but it turns out she has forgotten about something, and someone, very important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it isn't clear already, anything like ~"this"~ in italics is Parseltongue. Pretty obvious but I figured I'd mention it just in case.
> 
> Also, holy shit my dudes, I can't believe this fic has nearly 1k hits in less than 24 hours, you guys are MVPs and I hope you enjoy this crazy lil AU as much as I am <3

Harry collapsed face down into her four-poster bed.

Merlin, what a day.

The party in the Gryffindor common room was still on-going, but she wasn't really in the mood to keep celebrating. She'd put in a couple of hours to maintain appearances of course, but she was acutely aware that just yesterday these same people shouting her praises had been whispering behind her back and calling her a liar.

Kind of took the fun out of it.

After Madam Pomfrey had reluctantly cleared her of any injuries she'd reunited with Hermione and an apologetic Ron, though she was still feeling pretty pissed at him. His inferiority complex was really turning him into an ugly person, and she hoped it was just hormones making him more irrational than usual and he'd outgrow it. For Hermione's sake if nothing else, in case he ever pulled his head out of his ass and realised she was into him.

Getting the scores had been something of a shock too, despite Karkaroff only giving her a five and Dumbledore only giving her an eight, she had managed to land enough points from the other judges to get forty, and tie for first place with Krum. She knew exactly why Dumbledore had given her a lower score too, she knew he didn't approve of her using Parseltongue to win the challenge, despite the fact she was the only Champion to not get hurt or damage the eggs.

She sighed, her hand coming up to touch the still tingling band of skin around her neck.

It had settled into a dark bronze colour that reminded her of the dragon's horns, and had taken on the surprisingly detailed shape of a crescent moon on the middle of her neck, with what seemed to be a band of twisted, thorny vines encircling the rest of her throat. It was actually very pretty against the deep tan of her skin, and must refer to both the Moon Caves colony and Thorns-in-the-deep-forest, which made her smile in fondness.

She definitely preferred it to the other magical scar she had, that's for damn sure.

Another yawn made her realise the exhaustion of the day was starting to catch up to her. Deciding she didn't care about falling asleep in her clothes, she dumped her wand and her glasses on her bedside table before kicking off her trainers and burrowing into her blankets, and let sleep claim her.

 

***

 

"Miss Potter."

She felt herself being dragged back to consciousness kicking and screaming.

_"Miss Potter!"_

"Urmf?"

The voice was persistent, she'd give it that. "I need you to come with me." Also familiar, now she thought about it.

"Huh?" She blinked up at her head of house, still mostly asleep and completely confused. "What?"

McGonagall was in a dressing gown, her hair in a braid instead of the usual bun, and looking harried. "Get dressed and meet me in the common room in two minutes, your presence is required."

Harry sat up as the professor left, rubbing her eyes and cursing herself for not putting her own hair into a braid before going to sleep because the chest length mess of black curls was rapidly approaching the level of eldritch bird nest. Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed to get dressed. Maybe it was something to do with the next Task they forgot to tell them after the First Task ended earlier?

The confusion didn't disappear as she threw on a Weasley jumper and an extra pair of socks, before rugging up in her school robes, a scarf and a pair of trainers. Hogwarts was magical, but it was also a thousand year old castle in the Scottish highlands, and it got very cold at nights.

"So what's this all about Professor?" She yawned as she followed McGonagall out of the post-party wreckage of the common room and towards the stairs. "Not that I'm not curious, but it's nearly two in the morning."

"It seems that the dragon you faced today is…pining." She sighed. "I don't quite understand why, but Charlie Weasley has been begging someone to fetch you for the last hour. Apparently something happened during the task and it's possible that your dragon…imprinted on you."

Harry nearly tripped over the hem of her robe, hand flying up to her throat and the still raw band of scar tissue. "Oh shit. I didn't think she was serious."

"Language Miss Potter!" McGonagall scolded. "And what do you mean, you didn't think she was serious?"

"Um, you know how I was talking to the dragon during the task?" She said with a wince. "She kind of, um, adopted me."

McGonagall stopped walking, turning back to stare at her. "The dragon adopted you?" She said in disbelief. "And you didn't think to inform anyone of this fact?"

"I thought she was just being nice!" Harry protested. "She asked where my mother was and I said she was dead. She seemed upset about it and my staying with my aunt, and said she'd take care of me. I thought she meant that the mark she put on my neck would protect me from other dragons, not that she'd actually expected to be my new guardian!"

"Well regardless of what she did or did not mean, the dragontamers are beside themselves worrying over her, and you're their last resort to try and calm her down before resorting to Stunning. According to Mr Weasley she's been Stunned too many times in the last 24 hours for it to be completely safe, so if you can't get through to her then they're risking the wellbeing of the only established breeding mother of her incredibly endangered species currently in captivity."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Then why was she dragged into this stupid Tournament if she's so important?"

"You would have to take that up with the Tournament organisers." McGonagall sniffed. "It baffles me what is apparently acceptable levels of risk in the name of 'international magical co-operation'."

Harry couldn't help but agree with her grumpy Professor as they exited the castle and headed for the Forbidden Forest, it was ridiculous that such an endangered magical creature was dragged here all the way from her home in Romania just to be a spectacle for this farce of a Tournament.

Walking silently through the forest behind her teacher, she could soon hear roars echoing through the trees. As flashes of fire illuminated the camp they were approaching, she saw Charlie Weasley jogging over to them. He looked exhausted, covered in soot, and seemed to be missing a chunk of hair on the right side of his head.

"You're finally here!" He exclaimed, stopping and panting, clearly out of breath. "Big Black has been on a rampage all night. She refuses to settle down and she's pining something awful."

"Her name's actually Thorns-in-the-deep-forest." Harry corrected with an embarrassed smile. "And that would be my fault, I'm afraid she kind of, um, adopted me today during the task."

"Really?" Charlie's face lit up like a kid at Christmas. "So you really were communicating with her during the Task then? It looked like it but I didn't have time to try and confirm since we had to rangle all the grumpy mamas back here once you were done. And what an interesting naming convention!"

She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "Yeah, I speak Parseltongue which is usually just for snakes, but apparently the dragon version is just similar enough that we can talk to each other. It's kinda like she has a really heavy accent, and it's a lot more formal sounding than regular Parseltongue, but if I really concentrate she sounds a lot like the basilisk I faced in my second year so I guess that helped my brain make sense of it?"

Charlie Weasley was speechless, and looked like he was experiencing so many different emotions he was about to start singing or crying. Not sure what to do she just kept babbling.

"As for the names yeah, I said my aunt's name and it sounded normal but that's because it's Petunia, so I guess it just translated directly to petunia like the flower. When I said Harry though, it came out as Protector-of-the-home for some reason. Apparently Nestmother thinks that's a good name."

"Nestmother?"

"Yeah, that's what she said I should call her after she decided I was her hatchling."

"So tell me more about this, I know that dragons have a strong predisposition to group-based surrogacy, did she say anything about that?"

"The way Nestmother explained it, since she's the biggest and strongest in her colony she guards all the eggs of the colony, not just her own. Apparently it's quite the honour. And she looks after them once they hatch until they're big enough to go back to their bloodmother. And if the blood parents are killed or taken, I'm guessing that means poached or hunted, then she raises them herself."

Charlie Looked like he was desperatly regretting the lack of a quill. "So how come she decided to adopt you?"

"She asked where my mother was, since I was so small. I said she was dead, so she asked where my nestmother was instead. I told her it was my Aunt Petunia, and well…" Harry trailed off, not really wanting to share the depressing state of her home life with her head of House and Ron's big brother. "She apparently felt my aunt was an unfit guardian, and told me she'd be my nestmother instead."

Charlie looked like he was about to keep asking questions when McGonagall, who had been oddly quiet during the conversation as they walked, interrupted with a pointed cough. "If we could please get back on track? What do you need Miss Potter for Mr Weasley, she should be back in Gryffindor Tower at this hour of the night, she has classes tomorrow!"

"Right, of course!" He said, and began to lead them deeper into the camp. "Well come on through to Big-, well I suppose it's Thorns-in-the-deep-forest's enclosure isn't it? She's been getting progressively more and more upset over the last six hours or so. The only time I've seen one of our mamas this upset is when they've been separated from one of their little ones."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense. It seemed like nestmother's take their responsibilities very seriously. If she was serious about actually adopting me, then it's no wonder." She felt a stab of guilt. "I'm really sorry, I honestly didn't think she was serious or I would have mentioned it to someone sooner."

"No matter, let's see how she is when she sees you're okay."

Walking up to the clearing occupied by a very agitated, keening Hungarian Horntail and a large group of dragontamers in a similar state of dishevelment to Charlie, Harry felt a pang of guilt that she'd upset the dragon that had been so kind to her.

Passing a group that was trying to hold onto a pair of ropes that wound around her forepaws, she snapped at them, "Get those things off of her this instant!"

They looked at her in confusion, before Charlie came up behind her. "Do as she said!" He called out over the din. "Everyone remove the bindings and step back right away!"

The dragontamers did as told but didn't look happy about it, a few holding their wands in front of them ready to defend or attack as needed.

Ignoring them and stepping forward towards the dragon who was hunched over her clutch defensively now she had a free range of movement. _~"I'm here Nestmother!"~_ She called out to the pining dragon. _~"You don't need to worry. I'm here!"~_

Thorns-in-the-deep-forest's head snapped up. _~"My hatchling!"~_ She roared. _~"Where did you go for so long, I thought they had taken you from me!"~_

_~"I was with the other humans in my own nest, I was perfectly safe."~_ She reassured the dragon as she once more reached out with a wing and swept the small human closer so she could nuzzle Harry with her great, horned head that was pretty much the same size as Harry's entire body. Harry could hear the other dragon tamer's start yelling in alarm, only to be frantically shushed by Charlie Weasley. Mindful of the spikes, she carefully hugged Thorns-in-the-deep-forest around the base of her long, graceful neck, as the dragon curled around her protectively, crooning softly.

_~"My hatchling."~_ She sighed, the rigid tension seeming to drain out of her now that she had Harry back under her wing. _~"I couldn't bear it if I lost you, my tiny Speaker."~_

Harry tried to remember the last time someone had been so overjoyed by just having her with them, and the closest she could think of was when Sirius had hugged her tightly before he'd had to escape Hogwarts on Buckbeak. Stroking the surprisingly smooth scales under her hands, she smiled happily.

_~"It's ok Nestmother, I'm here now."~_


	3. Sweet dreams (are made of this)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is reunited with Thorns-in-the-deep-forest, to the dragon's relief and everyone else's bemusement.

Convincing the dragontamers she was fine while not being able to escape from Thorns-in-the-deep-forest's grasp was hard, but not impossible. Most were torn between confusion and sheer awe with a dash of exhaustion thrown in, and after Charlie backed her up most were sent to check on their other charges while a handful stayed and hovered on the edge of the clearing. Ostensibly to keep watch but most likely because they were just really damn curious.

Harry couldn't really blame them, this whole situation was pretty surreal.

"Is everything quite alright in there Miss Potter?" McGonagall called out from the other side of Thorns-in-the-deep-forest's warm, sheltering wings.

_~"What do the humans want?"~_ The dragon huffed.

_~"They're just making sure I'm ok, let me talk to them and they should go away."~_

"Miss Potter?" Said the older woman, sounding worried.

"It's ok!" She called out. "Just telling her that I'm fine."

_~"Make them leave, it is late for hatchlings to be awake."~_

"Is there any chance of you emerging any time soon Miss Potter?"

Harry looked up the still contentedly humming dragon, who had let to loosen her grip. "I don't think so Professor." She said with a wince, wiggling around and carefully maneuvering a wing out of the way so she could see her head of House. "Is there any chance I could stay here with her tonight? It's probably going to take a while to sort this all out."

McGonagall's lips pursed. "I'm not sure Miss Potter it just isn't safe, you really should be back in your dormitory."

"For what it's worth," Charlie interjected, "with this big mama looking after her she's pretty much as safe as Gringotts. Plus there's all of us here as well, we always have multiple people on watch 24/7 as a rule. No one could get through all of us without someone knowing, and I could walk Harry back up to the castle myself in time for breakfast."

The Professor was clearly looking torn between her professional responsibilities and not wanting to stand there in the cold all night while Harry reassured a disgruntled mother dragon.

"I'll be fine Professor, there's no way anyone's getting past Nestmother tonight, even me. And you heard Charlie, there'll be plenty of adults around to supervise the whole time. If I'm apparently capable of facing a hostile dragon during a Tournament, surely I'm capable enough to spend the night with one who only wants to protect me?"

That and the late hour was apparently enough to reassure the older woman, who sighed in defeat. "Very well Miss Potter. I suppose considering the…extreme circumstances we can make an exception just this once. I would however like to have a meeting with you in the Headmaster's office after dinner tomorrow to discuss this matter further."

"Of course Professor, thank you for this."

"Don't make a habit out of it Miss Potter. I'll see you tomorrow." She turned and trained a stern look at Charlie. "I'm holding you responsible for her well-being Mr Weasley."

"Of course Professor McGonagall." The redhead replied, clearly still as intimidated by that look as he would have been as a student.

With another appraising look in Harry's direction, McGonagall turned and started walking back towards the castle.

"Well, is there anything you need before I head off for some shut-eye Harry?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine honestly. Is there anything you need me to ask Nestmother?"

Charlie looked both delighted and overwhelmed. "So tempting! But not just now I think, I'm running on adrenalin and would rather approach this in the morning with a clearer head. Do you have any free periods tomorrow?"

"No, but I can come after classes before dinner starts."

"Perfect. I'll leave my assistant here with you, if anything happens he can come wake me up. Hey Lorin, come over here for a sec!"

A tall figure with their long blue hair done up in a ton of messy braids separated itself from the cluster of clearly gossiping dragontamers and jogged over, keeping an impassive eye on the dragon as they did. "What's going on Charlie?"

"Lorin this is Harry Potter, Harry this is Lorin Sayre my delightfully American intern. I'm going to go nap for a few hours, and Harry will be staying here to chat with her mama and get some rest herself. I'll be back around 7 to wake her up and escort her back to Hogwarts, if anything happens between now and then come fetch me ok?"

Lorin raised an immaculate eyebrow. "She's seriously going to be sleeping in Big Black's nest?"

"Her proper name is Thorns-in-the-deep-forest Lorin, make sure to tell the others, and yes she most certainly is." He clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry it's perfectly safe, it's just like I said she's apparently decided Harry is one of her little ones. Have fun kids!"

"Bye Charlie!" Harry called out as he winked and wandered off in the direction of the tents they'd passed on their way in.

Lorin just stared at her, looking not entirely sure of the etiquette involved when dealing with a 14 year old girl having a sleepover with the biggest, baddest dragon they had.

"You sure you'll be alright in there?" He finally asked, eyeing the tight grip Thorns-in-the-deep-forest still had on her.

Harry just chuckled. "Totally fine, we've got some things to talk about so if you hear anything that's all it'll be."

"How are you able to communicate with her, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I'm a Parselmouth." She explained with a shrug. "I had no idea until the Task today but apparently dragons are similar enough to snakes that the whatever lets me talk to them applies to dragons too."

"Huh." Whatever he was thinking Harry had no idea, Lorin had a face as closed off as Snape's. "Well, I'll be around. Scream or shoot up some sparks if she tries to eat you."

"Um, will do."

With that parting remark the blue-haired intern left to wander back over to the other dragontamers. Shaking her head, Harry turned back to the dragon who'd been waiting patiently for her to finish.

_~"Sorry about that Nestmother, they just like to fuss."~_

_~"Hatchlings should be fussed over."~_ She replied, flexing her wings and settling them comfortably against her back now the danger seemed to be over. _~"But they should know I would never let you come to harm now I have you safe with me."~_

Harry was quiet for a while, stroking the smooth scales of the dragon's snout. _~"I can't stay with you all the time though Nestmother, however much I might want to. Up in the castle is where the other human young and I learn how to use and control our magic. If I can't learn that I will be putting myself and others in danger."~_

Thorns-in-the-deep-forest hissed low in her throat, her tail coming to wrap carefully around Harry. _~"I will not be separated from you my hatchling. You are mine to protect now."~_

_~"I don't want to be separated from you either Nestmother."~_ She reassured the maternal dragon. _~"But I am a human as well as a Speaker, and there are things I need to do as a human, like learn about magic. And you need to go back to your colony."~_

_~"If I leave then you are coming with me, my hatchling."~_ She growled. _~"I do not trust the humans to care for you as you deserve."~_

Harry sighed in frustration. _~"How about I still go to my lessons, but I come and spend time with you every day until you go back to your colony?"~_

_~"That is acceptable, every mother knows that their young cannot stay in the nest all day. But I will not be leaving for my colony unless you come with me."~_

_~"I can't leave though, I have classes until the beginning of summer, not to mention the Tournament which I have to compete in. What about the eggs in your clutch, don't they need to be back with the rest of your colony?"~_

_~"These eggs will not hatch until midsummer."~_ Thorns-in-the-deep-forest said smugly. Harry had no idea how she could tell the dragon was being smug, but she could. _~"I am perfectly capable of guarding a clutch of eggs and one stubborn hatchling by myself in the meantime."~_

Great, now she had to find a way to convince Dumbledore and everyone else to okay a 50-ft dragon staying in the Forbidden Forest until the end of the school year, because there was no way in hell her Nestmother was going without a fight and if Harry didn't stay here and compete in the Tournament she'd lose her magic. Though the idea of spending her summers in Romania with her new dragon guardian was incredibly tempting if she could convince the Headmaster that she'd be safe there from Voldemort and his followers. Seriously though, surrounded by protective dragons in an Unplottable dragon reservation in Europe sounded a hell of a lot safer than the suburbs of bloody Surrey.

Interpreting her silence as agreement, Thorns-in-the-deep-forest unwound her tail and gently nudged Harry to lie against her side. _~"It is late and you need sleep my hatchling."~_

Harry curled up, trying to get comfy and quiet the thought racing around in her brain. Now there was no conversation she noticed there was a strange noise that she couldn't quite place, until she realised that it was the Fireball in the next enclosure over, who seemed to be wailing despondently. She remembered with a sick jolt that she'd been the dragon that Krum had faced, and that his curse had caused her to accidentally squash some of the eggs she'd been so carefully guarding. She must be so distraught, and all for the amusement of the human spectators, Harry thought to herself, and had to resist the urge to cry.

_~"The one that's upset, she's the one who lost some of her eggs isn't she?"~_

_~"Yes."~_ Thorns-in-the-deep-forest sighed as she ran a paw over her own eggs, as if reassuring herself they were okay. _~"Dances-in-the-river lost two of her own and one which belonged to a blooddaughter which would have been her first grandhatchling. She is beside herself in her grief. The dishonour to her colony is vast, if that filthy human ever sets foot in their lands he will be hunted without mercy."~_

Harry made a note to let Viktor Krum know that he was persona non grata to pretty much every dragon in Romania after this, though to be honest she was feeling pretty pissed at him for it as well for his carelessness.

_~"I'm so sorry the humans dragged you all here for this stupid Tournament. I didn't want to be a part of it either, but someone entered me against my will and since it was a magical contract I couldn't refuse or I would have lost my magic."~_

_~"What a dishonourable thing to do."~_

Harry sighed, looking up through the trees at the starry sky. _~"Everyone thinks I did it though, no matter what I say."~_

The dragon huffed. _~"The young aren't responsible for the actions of their elders. They should not have blamed you for that, my Harry."~_

Her eyes stung. _~"Thank you Nestmother."~_

_~"Sleep my Harry."~_ She crooned. _~"I will guard your dreams."~_

Harry took off her scarf and bundled it up under her head to use as a makeshift pillow. The upside to curling up with a dragon was that she was toasty warm, even though she was essentially camping in the Forbidden Forest without a tent and winter had decided to come early.

I've definitely slept in worse places, she thought to herself, thinking back on all the years spent in her cold, draughty cupboard at the Dursley's until her Hogwarts letter arrived and she was moved to Dudley's second bedroom. Spending the night in a dragon's nest where she was warm and treasured and _wanted_ , it didn't even begin to compare. 


	4. Nothing's gonna hurt you baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has a strange morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe the response this fic has had, you guys are awesome <3 
> 
> I'm aiming for weekly updates for this going forward, though they make be more or less frequent depending on how the balancing act between my inspiration, my ADHD, and my other fics go.

Harry was woken the next morning from one of the best night's sleep she'd ever had, by the cheerful voice of Charlie Weasley.

"Alright Harry? It's just after 7, I've got to get you back up to the castle so you don't miss breakfast."

"Mfrrphemf." Said Harry.

Charlie just laughed. "You're as bad as Ron in the mornings aren't you? Come on then, or Professor McGonagall will turn me into a chew toy."

Harry sat up with a yawn, straightening her glasses and trying in vain to get her wild hair out of her face.

"Morning already?" she rasped. Apparently staying up late speaking Parseltongue was really hard on the throat, who knew?

"Yep." The redhead replied happily. He was clearly a morning person, how utterly unforgiveable. "Come on out of there now. And make sure you let your mama know you're heading out or she'll have us on toast."

It really was quite sweet how easily Charlie had taken the whole getting-adopted-by-a-dragon thing and just acted as if it wasn't strange at all. To Harry, who was used to even the normal things she got up to being poked and prodded and dissected, it was very refreshing. Then again if Ron's stories about his brother and his beloved dragons were anything to go by, maybe the only strange thing to him would be people not being as attached to them as he was.

Turning back to her dozing Nestmother, Harry tried to work out how to wake her up. Poke her maybe? The school motto suddenly flashed through her head, and she had to physically restrain herself from hysterical giggling. _Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus_ , indeed.

Charlie raised a curious eyebrow. "Care to share?"

Harry just gigglesnorted into her hands. "'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.' Just wondering how many Hogwarts students are faced with a practical application to our ridiculous school motto."

That made him laugh. "Oh that is fantastic. I'd be lying if it hadn't occurred to me once or twice during my training."

All the laughing had apparently solved their little problem by waking Thorns-in-the-deep-forest up for them.

_~"Hatchling?"~_

Harry smiled warmly up at the sleepy dragon. _~"I'm just getting up so I can go to my lessons Nestmother. I'll be by to see you in the afternoon once they're over, alright?"~_

_~"This is acceptable, but if they try to steal you again they will not be pleased with the results."~_

Harry just sighed and patted the paw she'd been sleeping against. _~"Yes Nestmother, I'll let them know."~_

_~"Very well."~_

Hoping out of the nest, she waved goodbye to the dragon who was clearly going straight back to sleep, and walked over to Charlie who turned and began to lead her back through the camp.

"I don't think I'm going to get over that any time soon." He said with a smile.

"Get over what exactly?"

"The fact you can talk to them. They're my life, and the fact that it's now possible to communicate with them at all is more than I thought we'd ever have. You have an incredible gift Harry."

She flushed, still half asleep but touched by Charlie's words. "Normally all I hear about being a Parselmouth is that because Voldemort was one it makes me evil or a slimy snake."

"Ah, that'd be my little brother in a bad mood talking."

Harry didn't meet his eye but didn't deny it either.

"Ignore what he and anyone else might say." Charlie said with a shrug. "Living away from the Wizarding UK, you realise how closed off and isolated we are here. There's a whole world full of people and magic out there and they all come in a lot more shapes than we get taught here. Your actions are what makes you good or bad, not things you're born with and have no control over. Especially such a rare gift that lets you give a voice to some who otherwise wouldn't have one in our world."

Harry smiled to herself, feeling very warm. "Thanks Charlie, I'll keep that in mind."

 

***

 

"Thanks for walking me back." She said once they got inside the castle. "I know it's early, I appreciate it."

She smiled, about to turn around when Charlie's suddenly wide eyes looking over her shoulder made her pause.

"And where exactly _have_ you been Miss Potter?"

Shit, she thought to herself as she slowly turned around. Somehow they'd had the bad fortune to come in through the doors to the Entrance Hall just as Snape had emerged from the staircase that led to the dungeons.

"Morning Professor Snape." Charlie said cheerfully, his daily dealings with giant fire-breathing creatures apparently making him fearless in the face of the terror of Hogwarts. "I'm just walking Harry back up to the castle from the camp on Professor McGonagall's orders."

"And why exactly would she be asking you to escort Miss Potter back to where she should already be this early in the morning?"

Harry clenched her jaw, already knowing this wasn't going to end well. "I didn't spent the night in the dorm. Sir."

Snape's eyes were gleaming like polished onyx. "Spending the night out of your dorm, and in a camp full of dragontamers no less? How incredibly inappropriate Miss Potter."

Harry flushed deep red. "It's nothing of the sort! Thorns-in-the-deep-forest needed me, Professor McGonagall fetched me last night because she was pining and gave permission for me to stay there and be escorted back here in the morning."

The entirely far too imposing man blinked. "Who exactly is Thorns-in-the-deep-forest?"

"That's the dragon Harry was talking to yesterday in the First Task, the Hungarian Horntail." Charlie replied. "She adopted Harry here, and was positively distraught when she didn't come back to see her after the Task. We asked the good Professor to fetch Harry so we could calm her down and it took a while, so she bunked over in her nest."

"You spent the night in a dragon's nest?" He said slowly, as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of his own mouth. "A dragon that has…adopted you?"

Harry nodded, biting her lip so hard to stop herself from talking back at him that she tasted blood.

"So it isn't just humans that apparently incapable of ignoring the allure of your vainglorious arrogance either, I guess it's only be expected from one such as yourself. Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"But that's not fair!" She cried. "I had permission from my Head of House!"

"It's for not being in your uniform on a school day." He sneered, eyeing her baggy Weasley jumper and her mud-streaked trainers. "I trust you will not show up to my class this afternoon in such a sorry state?"

Jaw clenched and cheeks burning she refused to meet his eyes and see his smugness. "Yes Professor."

"As you were Mr Weasley." He said blandly, before sweeping off with a flourish of his robes.

"Well then." Charlie said. "It wasn't just because I was a kid, he is legitimately terrifying isn't he?"

"He really is." She groaned into her hands, wondering how she could still be so disbelieving of the loss of points when this was really par for the course for any of her interactions with Snape. "I'm pretty sure he has it out for me."

"I'm sure that's not it." Charlie said kindly. "Come on, time to get back to your dorm."

 

***

 

Charlie ended up escorting her all the way back to Gryffindor Tower after the run-in with Snape, telling her stories along the way about what he'd gotten up to with the other dragontamers. Apparently Lorin was always as stoic as he'd been when she met him last night, but was somehow also a total hero at karaoke.

After making it through the mercifully empty common room and up to her dorm room, Harry quietly grabbed her shower kit from her shelf and managed to creep into their shared bathroom without anyone being the wiser. Relaxing under the hot steamy water and trying to comb her favourite rosemary and sage scented conditioner through her stubborn curls, she wondered how she was going to explain all this to everyone without them thinking she was more of a freak than usual.

She sighed, hand straying to the still tingling band of bronze skin around her throat. She wondered if it would fade eventually, or if she'd have it for the rest of her days. Harry wasn't quite as conscientious of her appearance as Parvati or Lavender were, there just wasn't time enough in the day to spend that long debating winged eyeliner no matter how pretty it was, but she also wasn't as rabidly opposed to 'pandering to the patriarchal expectation of young women' as Hermione. Between the glasses, the untamed hair and her complete lack of curves she knew she wasn't a catch, but it was frustrating that there was so many things conspiring to make her undesirable.

Getting out of the shower she dried her hair with a quick charm, sighing as it made it fluff up like crazy until she worked some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion through it and braided it out of her way. Tip-toeing back into the dorm room, opening up her wardrobe and digging out a clean uniform, she thought she was in the clear until one of her quidditch boots fell out and landed with a loud thump on the floor. She cringed just as the curtains on Hermione's bed whipped open.

"Where have you _been_?" She hissed, fully dressed and hair sticking out every which way from where she'd clearly been worrying at it. "I woke up and you were gone, I was just about to go find Professor McGonagall and report you as missing when I heard the shower!"

Harry sighed, body still aching from the Task yesterday and a not entirely sufficient amount of sleep gained while sleeping in a dragon's nest.

"Professor McGonagall knew where I was 'Mione, she's the one who came and fetched me at like two in the morning because my dragon missed me." She said, digging into her wardrobe. "She gave me permission to spend the rest of the night there as long as I got back before breakfast."

Hermione was staring at her as she got dressed with the frustrated pursing of her lips she got when she didn't understand something and was very cross about it. "Your dragon missed you?"

"Yeah, turns out she was dead serious about adopting me after all. I officially have an adopted mother who breathes fire." Harry paused while doing up her shirt buttons and giggled. "It's bloody brilliant is what it is. I wonder if I can set her on the Dursleys?"

"I don't think you should be considering having a dragon attack your relatives, you'll just get expelled!" The bushy-haired witch cried.

Harry rolled her eyes. "Not kill, just…scare them a bit, so they'll leave me alone. Plus I think Dudley would wet himself, it'd be hilarious."

"Why are you talking?" Lavender moaned from her bed, sounding both murderous and like she was talking half into her pillow. "Stop talking."

Harry huffed a laugh. "Sorry Lavender, we're just leaving." She grabbed her robe and her school bag and headed for the door, Hermione hot on her heels.

"I can't believe Professor McGonagall gave you permission to stay in a camp full of dragontamers for the evening." She said as they closed the door.

"I wasn't in the camp exactly, I was sleeping with Nestmother. I know it probably goes without saying but dragons really are warm! I slept like an especially toasty log once we finished talking things out. None of those weird nightmares either, I guess it's impossible to not feel safe when you're curled up with something bigger than a bus that takes your wellbeing very seriously."

"You slept in it's nest?!"

"Her nest, and yes that's what I said."

"But Harry, that's so dangerous!"

"Not really." Harry shrugged. "She's my mother now. She's not exactly going to eat me is she? There were humans standing watch all night too. Safe as Gringotts, just like Charlie said."

"What did Charlie say?"

Harry spun around and saw a surprisingly awake Ron sitting on one of the armchairs by the fire. "Oh Ron, you're up early."

He shook his head, clearly as perplexed by his being awake by they were. "Yeah Seamus was sick  everywhere this morning from all the rum, he woke the whole dorm up. Apparently too much transfigured alcohol and Honeydukes sweets are a bad mix."

"Serves him right. He's a student, he shouldn't be drinking at all." Hermione sniffed as they excited the common room. "And for your information, we were discussing Charlie because Harry spent the night with a dragon." 

Harry scowled. "Not just any dragon, Thorns-in-the-deep-forest is my mother now."

"Really?" Ron exclaimed with wide eyes. "Wicked!"

"You shouldn't be encouraging her!"

Ron looked contemplative. "Do you think she'd go scare your crappy relatives?"

"That's what I said!" Harry laughed. Prat he might be at times, but Ron was fun.

"I can't believe how immature you're both being." Hermione grumbled.

"You haven't seen them and their creepy house." Ron replied vehemently. "If you did you'd understand."

Harry just linked arms with the both of them as they started bickering and smiled that she had her best friends on her side again.


	5. Cheap thrills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast at the staff table is apparently the perfect time for gossip.

Severus Snape scowled into his second cup of black coffee of the morning and wondered if he was going to need a painkilling potion to get through the day.

The Dark Mark on his left arm, which had been faded and inert since Halloween 1981, had been slowly darkening and starting to ache since the beginning of summer. In the last month it had even seemed to move again, tiny twitches of the snakes tail that he never saw happen but could always feel and then see after the fact.

He glanced up through the curtain of his hair towards the Gryffindor Table, taking note of Potter sitting there amidst the chaos like nothing at all was amiss, laughing and talking with her sycophants flocked around her. It had something to do with her, it always did. Ever since she'd come to Hogwarts it had been one bloody thing after another every bloody year, like clockwork. He couldn't even go for an early morning walk to the greenhouses to fetch some herbs without her invading.

And of all the reasons for him having to deal with her that early, it was because she had a sleepover with a fucking dragon! If that wasn't enough, she'd then waltzed back into the castle like she owned it, covered in mud. There had even been twigs in her ridiculous hair for Merlin's sake. It consistently baffled him that according to Albus she was apparently their only hope for defeating the Dark Lord for good. Some days he thought they might as well roll out the red carpet right now and save themselves all the headache.

He was just reading through Rita Skeeter's latest article on the Tournament ( _The-Girl-Who-Lived-To-Be-A-Parselmouth!_ Screamed the headline over an unflattering picture of a confused looking Potter covered in soot. _More information on this notorious Dark ability and it's dangers to the public on page 4._ ) when a voice from the other side of Albus' empty chair piped up. "So tell us Minnie dear, what's this I hear about Miss Potter being seen wandering the halls early this morning, hmmm?" Pomona was one of the most disgustingly cheerful people at the best of times, but her insistence on being so even during breakfast was truly unforgivable.

Minerva usually had a similar outlook to his own on the sacrosanct nature of a quiet breakfast table, one of the few reasons he never complained about being seated to her right on the Staff Table, but in this instance clearly her addiction to gossip overrode it. "It's that dragon of hers." She said sagely between sips of her tea. "I told you she was talking to it during the Task didn't I, apparently being a Parselmouth actually did her a favour for once. You remember of course how awful the students were to her about it during all that nonsense with the basilisk in her second year?"

"Of course." Said Poppy from his right, inserting herself seamlessly into the conversation as if he wasn't sitting between them. "All the little cretins were positively beastly about it, as if she could possibly be the sort."

"Well it isn't everyday one comes across someone with a skill like that." Septima noted primly from next to Pomona, not even looking up from her copy of the Daily Prophet where she was apparently devouring page 4 with rapid interest. "I can't entirely blame them for being disturbed when the only ones who share it historically were all bad news."

Severus grit his teeth at the blatant prejudice towards his House, Septima Vector was a right bitch even on the best of days and everyone knew it, but didn't say anything which would tip them off that he was actually paying attention to their conversation.

"Well." Said Minerva while giving Severus the side-eye, apparently knowing him far too well, before getting them back on topic. "Apparently the blessed creature has decided it's her mother of all things, and she was certainly giving the dragontamers what for at being separated from Miss Potter. I got woken up by none other than Charlie Weasley at half past one in the damn morning to fetch her. Apparently it was pining something awful, and it was taking ages for Miss Potter to convince her that she was perfectly safe in the castle. In the end I let her stay there, there was plenty of adult supervision and she was clearly safe with the dragon in it's nest for a few hours before Mr Weasley could walk her back to the castle to get ready for the day."

"She slept in a dragon's nest?" Pomona exclaimed in horrified fascination. "And she didn't get burnt to a crisp?"

"Like I said, the dragon has to all intents and purposes adopted her. You didn't see them together, this great bloody thing nearly as big as the Great Hall curled around her protectively and holding her like she was a little china doll, giving us the stink eye if we tried to get any closer. She really was in no danger."

Pomona looked ecstatic at this new fuel for the almighty Hogwarts rumour mill. "How fascinating. What do you suppose is going to happen? I thought the dragons were being sent back to Romania over the weekend."

"They are." Sighed Minerva. "Miss Potter, Mr Weasley and I will be having a meeting with Albus after dinner to discuss our options. That particular dragon is apparently worth it's weight in gold to the conservationists, and no I'm not exaggerating. I've no idea why it was used in this bloody Tournament at all if it's so valuable."

"That'll be 'cause she's a broody Horntail innit?" Said Hagrid who had just arrived at the table in the other side of Poppy, apparently having a sixth sense about anything relating to monstrous creatures and Harry Potter. "Horntails are real endangered see 'cause of all tha poachin', but a proper motherly type one? They're rarer than hen's teeth they are, an' Horntails are picky as they come. Won't even lay eggs a'tall if there ain't one around. I was talkin' to Charlie a'fore the Task and she wasn't s'posed to be innit at all strictly speakin', but when our Harry got chosen t'be a Champion las' minute there weren't no other nestin' dragons in Romania to take instead, so they 'ad no choice. I guess they thought no one 'ad any chance doin' any actual damage to her, what with her bein' such a fierce lady an' all."

"I wonder if that adoption has got something to do with the mark the dragon left on Miss Potter during the Task?" Poppy wondered out loud.

"What do you mean, mark?" Said Pomona curiously.

"Well we all thought the dragon had burnt her just before she escaped the nest with the golden egg, but when I checked her over it wasn't a burn at all. It was raised and apparently stung a bit, but it was this ring of what looked like thorny branches all in bronze with a moon in the middle. The blasted thing wrapped around her entire throat, I've never seen anything like it. It didn't seem to bother her either, so I just wrapped it up with a bandage and said to come find me if it started to hurt or did anything strange."

Well that was intriguing, he thought to himself as he poured another cup of coffee. He couldn't remember seeing the mark this morning, but she had been rugged up in a thick scarf which covered up that whole area.

"Miss Potter said it was to protect her from other dragons apparently." Minerva was saying, buttering another piece of toast. "Come to think of it, I believe she said the dragon's name was Thorns-in-the-deep-forest, maybe it was an identifying mark of some sort?"

"How very peculiar indeed!" Exclaimed Poppy.

"Oh tha's jus' too sweet innit. Bless." Cooed Hagrid, wiping his eye with a napkin. It amazed Severus that a man that large and hairy could coo, but it seemed today was going to be one of those days that defied the expected.

"What do you think then Severus?" Said Pomona, apparently remembering he existed when he wordlessly summoned a pair of scones from the serving plate in front of her with his wand.

"I think." He said, reaching for the raspberry jam. "That Miss Potter has quite enough things making her think she's special without adding an overly maternal reptile which could swallow a man whole. It should be sent back to the reservation where it belongs."

"Really Severus." Minerva huffed. "I'm certain I don't understand why you are so determined to see nothing but the worst of her father in that poor girl. There's really so much more to her than that."

Because, he thought to himself, if I don't see him I'll just see Lily, and then we'll all be lost when the Dark Lord returns. Because he's coming back, and there's nothing any of us can do that will stop it.

Out loud he just replied, "I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about her as you must be imagining. I don't care if she's the daughter of James Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, or the reincarnation of bloody Merlin himself, she's an arrogant child who needs discipline, not more special allowances."

"Oh I'm certain it's not as bad as all that Severus." Came the airy voice over his shoulder. Shit. Albus had finally emerged through the staff door as if breakfast wasn't more than half over, the hulking form of Moody clunking in behind him.

"You causing more trouble there Snape?" The irritating man barked, his magical eye flicking around in it's socket like a particularly grotesque spinning top.

"Why yes indeed." He drawled back at the jumpy ex-Auror, waving around his butter knife which was covered in jam. "I'm currently murdering these poor, innocent scones. Perhaps don't arrest me until after breakfast is done though, do think of the children."

Albus laughed merrily in his ridiculous golden chair, while Minerva, Poppy and Hagrid seemed to be doing their best to muffle their snorts in their teacups. Pomona and Septima just looked indignant.

Moody scowled as he thumped past Severus' chair, and he had to subtly take in a fortifying breath to allow the man to be at his unguarded back without turning and staring him down. "You think you're so clever don't you Snape. But don't forget, I've got my eye on you."

"Oh I don't think any of us could forget that fact anytime soon." He sneered, then proceeded to ignore them all in favour of blithely eating his scones.

Laughter exploded from the Gryffindor table, apparently in response to something said by one of the twin Weasley menaces that had Potter flushing brick red and Granger smacking them both upside the head. To his left Pomona and Septima were still bickering with Minerva about Parselmouths, Albus was whistling a sea shanty as he made a cup of tea, and on his right Hagrid was dangerously close to blubbering over Potter and her blasted pet dragon while Poppy patted his arm in consolation. Severus felt the building pressure of a headache and scowled.

It really was going to be a long day.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided it was high time for a Snape POV chapter to properly introduce his character in this story. I know Snarry isn't the most popular of pairings but I really am a fan, especially with a fem!Harry I just think it's an incredible dynamic. There's almost no two characters in the whole story who are more broken in such similar ways as the two of them, and I think they have the potential to really understand each other in a way others can't. 
> 
> This will be slow burn as hell, so it will probably not end up being tagged as Underage depending on where you are in the world, and it won't sugarcoat Snape's past or personality. He's had a hard life and made shitty choices and is trying to redeem himself, and a big part of this story is the fact that Harry has the ability to love monsters. Hopefully together there will be a lot of healing, for the both of them.


	6. Red Right Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potions class doesn't quite go to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update for you guys to enjoy, no Nestmother in this one but she'll be back next chapter never fear! Thank you all so much for you comments, they help me so much with both motivation and inspiration to get more of this written so I can share it with you all <3

It had been a long day.

In an effort to distract Hermione from her well-intentioned but irritating scolding at breakfast she'd mentioned what McGonagall had said about Nestmother being endangered, knowing nothing would get her friend on her side like making her care about a righteous cause. Only to then be ambushed halfway through lunch with a rant about how endangered Hungarian Horntails actually were.

Harry paused halfway through her sandwich. "Dragons are actually that rare then? I just figured they must be another of those magical things that Muggles didn't pay attention to when they were right under their noses."

Hermione shook her head vehemently, her hair whipping around, but surprisingly enough it was Ron who answered. "Nah mate. According to Charlie dragon populations in Europe were at an all-time low in the middle of the century, and they've only just started to bounce back due to conservation efforts that started in the 70s after some bloke got a bunch of different magical governments to agree on some new laws."

"Horntails especially are really hard to find in the wild too." Hermione continued in a rush. "Their hides are especially prized because of the deep, completely solid black colour and their highly defensive properties, which led to over-farming and poaching through the 30s and 40s since the hides were in such high demand because of the war. Thorns-in-the-deep-forest is the pride and joy of the Dragon Repopulation And Knowledge Effort, also called D.R.A.K.E, a co-operative group managed jointly by representatives from multiple countries based in Romania. Over the last decade, through both her own children and fostering other dragon's eggs, she's helped to nearly singlehandedly renew most of Europe's population of the species!"

That kind of boggled the mind, almost as much as Hermione being able to pull that much information out of thin air so quickly despite being in classes with Harry all morning. She shook her head and refocused in on her sandwiches as Hermione started lecturing at length about ethically sourced dragon hide, making a note to take her aside quietly in the dorms that night and ask about Time-Turners.

 

***

  
  
"Cease your prattling at once." Snape growled as he swept into the Potions classroom, clearly in a worse mood than usual. "Today we are making the Elixir of Dreamless Sleep. You will need the entire double to make it correctly, so don't waste my time and yours by lollygagging." He slapped the blackboard with his wand and the instructions appeared on it in his spindly handwriting. "Begin now. And don't forget to use your gloves, I will not be walking you to the Hospital Wing if you are stupid enough to have made it to your fourth year of my class and still not yet know what belladonna essence does to the human body before it's neutralised in flobberworm mucus."

Harry froze with her bag half unpacked as the rest of the class sprang into action, looking at what she was holding. Her pair of dragonhide gloves. Her pair of _black_ dragonhide gloves. She had no idea if it was Hungarian Horntail or not, but tales of poachers and hunters swirled through her mind she stared, unblinking, down at her hands.

Shit.

She stared some more, squinting, trying to twist it around in her head and make it work, but it was impossible. She couldn't use them knowing where they had probably come from, she just couldn't. Not now. Even just holding onto them, not knowing if it had been sourced from a poacher, was making her feel physically nauseous.

"Is there a problem Miss Potter?"

Double shit.

Snape had crept up on her while she was having her crisis, no doubt smelling her moment of weakness like a shark smelt fresh blood in the water, and was standing in front of her desk and glaring down at her.

She swallowed, knowing this wasn't going to go well. "No Professor."

"Then are your gloves perhaps guilty of some sort of crime which the Aurors should be made aware of?"

She winced, dropping the offending items back onto her desk. "No Professor. It's just, I can't use them."

He blinked at her, the only sign that he was even taking in what she was saying. "And why exactly are you unable to use your to all appearances perfectly serviceable gloves in my class?"

Her hands clenched in her lap, but she met his eyes determinedly. "They're made of dragonhide sir. Not knowing where it came from and if it was ethically sourced or not, I can't in good conscience use them anymore. It would be disrespectful to my adopted mother."

Snape was staring at her as if she had grown a second head or turned into a dragon herself, a weirdly complicated look on his face. "Your dragon," he eventually sneered, "is just that, a dragon. Your real mother was a human."

Harry squared her shoulders, ignoring the whispers, and resisted the urge to glare back. "For what it's worth, _sir_ , Thorns-in-the-deep-forest has cared for me more than nearly all of the human beings I have ever met in my entire life. I doubt my human mother would begrudge me that support. Knowing as I do now how most of the dragonhide in commercial circulation is sourced, I won't betray her any more than I would the memory of Lily Potter."

Snape's face was still oddly complicated. "Fine." He eventually gritted out between his teeth. "As the potion we are brewing today cannot be safely completed without protective gloves, you will leave. Do not return to my class until you are fully prepared to complete your coursework."

Dazed and amazed that he hadn't taken points from her, she hurriedly began to pack up her equipment before he changed his mind. "Yes Professor, thank you for understanding."

"And you have detention here tonight at 8 o'clock for purposefully skipping a lesson."

Of course he couldn't resist being an ass about it, she sighed, hoping she'd have enough time to make it back here after the meeting with Dumbledore. "Yes Professor."

He sneered at her one more time before she bolted, giving a small smile to Hermione as she passed who seemed to be beaming with pride at her moral fortitude in the face of oppression or something of the sort. She decided to drop her things off back in her dorm room, and go see Charlie and her Nestmother a little early.

 

***

  
  
Severus stared as she hustled out of his classroom like a Dementor was on her heels. He knew he'd let her off easily but he'd been blind-sided by her bringing up Lily, and that combined with her fiercely, infuriatingly Gryffindor earnestness had just made his headache worse. No matter, he'd find a way to take points off her when she inevitably mouthed off later during detention.

Though he was confused about her comment that the dragon had cared more for her than most humans. She'd just met the damn thing yesterday, the ingrate. Surely whoever her guardians were spoiled her rotten just like her father, he was sure of it.


End file.
